elder sister; Liu Qiong (刘琼), as Doctor #1; Shang Guanwu (尚冠武), as Doctor #2; Fang Lianying (方怜影), as landlady in the same building as Wei Ming; Zhou Qianyun (周倩云), as the daughter of the landlady; Long Ling (龙凌), as Wei Ming's ex-husband; Qiu Yiwei (裘逸韦), as the publisher; Hong Jingling (洪警铃), as the dancing hall manager; Fei Baiqing (费柏青), as the man in the flat cap; Diao Banhua (貂斑华), as the dancing girl; Huang Yunzhen (黄筠贞), as Madam Xu; Zhuo Mei (卓梅), as the hospital nurse. Reception In the 1930s, women were often featured in magazines and advertisements to convey the image of a modern lifestyle. Due to the association of a woman's qualifications with her ability to raise the future generation, women’s education was also heavily promoted, giving them a path towards integrating in the workforce. However, this idea of the modernizing role of women was met with criticism from the cultural sphere. “For example, some pointed to the so-called disadvantages of women receiving higher education, claiming that some modern women were no longer faithfully carrying out family duties.” When new women was released in 1935, the film was interpreted by many as an example of the leftward development of Cai's politics on the traditional constraints on women in mass media and urban society. One newspaper reviewer praised "the number of films with 'the woman question' as their subject over the past few years" and declared that "it is inevitable that this kind of film would go on to influence many aspects of the women's movement to come." 'The woman question' or funu wenti, was centred around the discussion of love, marriage, education and employment for women. The term "new women" also symbolized the start of modernist discourse in China. Post release of the film, critics were “quick to compare the three kinds of women and to try to identify who the new woman might be." Newspaper reviews were published to prototype these “new women” figures into their respective social strata. Zhang Xiuzhen is a college graduate (undoubtedly the daughter of a capitalist family), but she is willing to be a man's plaything all her life as Mrs. Wang of the comprador class. Li Aying has her roots in the working class, combating the hostile environment in her struggle. Wei Ming's background seems to be somewhere between the former two women and, because of that, she comes to be